127 Hours
| starring = James Franco | music = A. R. Rahman | cinematography = Anthony Dod Mantle Enrique Chediak | editing = Jon Harris | studio = Film4 HandMade Films | distributor = Fox Searchlight Pictures (USA) Pathé (UK) | released = | runtime = 94 minutes | country = | language = English | budget = $18 million | gross = $57,547,568 }} 127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah in April 2003. The film, based on Ralston's autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place, was written by Boyle and Simon Beaufoy and produced by Christian Colson and John Smithson (both Beaufoy and Colson had previously worked with Boyle on Slumdog Millionaire). The music was scored by A. R. Rahman who had also previously worked with Boyle on Slumdog Millionaire. The film was well-received by critics and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor (James Franco). Plot In 2003, Aron Ralston (James Franco) prepares for a day of canyoneering in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and drives to the trailhead at night. The next morning, he bikes through the park, aiming to cut 45 minutes off the guide book's estimate for the time needed to reach his destination. He is on foot, running along a bare rock formation when he sees two hikers, Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn), apparently lost. Ralston convinces the pair that he's a trail guide and offers to show them a much more interesting route than the one they had been trying to find. He leads them through narrow canyons, including a blind jump into an underground pool, where the three film themselves repeating the plunge using Ralston's video camera. As they part company, Kristi and Megan invite Ralston to a party they're holding the next night, and he promises to attend. However, they doubt he will show. Ralston continues into Blue John Canyon, through a narrow passage where boulders are suspended, wedged between the walls of rock. As he descends, one boulder is jarred loose, falling after Ralston to the bottom of the canyon and pinning his arm against the canyon wall, trapping him. He initially yells for help, but nobody is within earshot. As he resigns himself to the fact that he is on his own, he begins recording a video diary on his camera and using his pocket multi-tool to attempt to chip away at the boulder. He also begins rationing his water and food. As he realizes his efforts to chip away at the boulder are futile, he begins to attempt to cut into his arm, but finds his knife too dull to break his skin. He then stabs his arm, but realizes he will not be able to cut through the bone. He finds himself out of water and is forced to drink his own urine. His video logs become more and more desperate as he becomes delusional, dreaming about relationships and past experiences (including a former lover (Clémence Poésy), family (Lizzy Caplan, Treat Williams, Kate Burton), and the two hikers he met before his accident). After reflecting upon his life, he comes to the realization that everything he has done has led him to this ordeal and that he was destined to die alone in the canyon. After five days, a delusional Ralston sees his unborn son through a premonition. He gathers the will to apply enough force to his forearm to break it and severs his arm with the dull knife, fashioning a crude tourniquet out of the insulation for his CamelBak tube and using a carabiner to tighten it. He wraps the stump of his arm and takes a picture of the severed portion he is leaving behind. He then makes his way out of the canyon, where he is forced to rappel down a 65-foot rock face and hike several miles before, exhausted and covered in blood, he finally runs into a family on a day hike. The family sends for help and Ralston is evacuated by helicopter. The film ends with shots of the real Aron Ralston from his life after his ordeal—including several of Ralston's further adventures in climbing and mountaineering, which he continued following the accident—and of Ralston with his wife, whom he met years later, and their son. Cast * James Franco as Aron Ralston. * Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara as Megan McBride and Kristi Moore, two hikers Ralston met before the accident. * Clémence Poésy as Rana, Ralston's lover. * Lizzy Caplan as Sonja Ralston, Ralston's sister. * Treat Williams as Larry Ralston, Ralston's father. * Kate Burton as Donna Ralston, Ralston's mother. Authenticity The scenes early in the film of Ralston's encounter with the two hikers were altered to portray Ralston showing them a hidden pool, when in reality he just showed them some basic climbing moves. Despite these changes, with which he was initially uncomfortable, Ralston says the rest of the film is "so factually accurate it is as close to a documentary as you can get and still be a drama." Production Boyle had been wanting to make a film about Ralston's ordeal for four years. Boyle wrote a treatment for the film and Simon Beaufoy wrote the screenplay. Boyle describes 127 Hours as "very much a British film," and as "an action movie with a guy who can't move." He also expressed an interest for a more intimate film than his previous film, Slumdog Millionaire (2008): "I remember thinking, I must do a film where I follow an actor the way did with The Wrestler. So 127 Hours is my version of that." News of the World reported in November 2009 that Cillian Murphy was Boyle's top choice to play Ralston. In January 2010, James Franco was cast as Ralston. Boyle and Fox Searchlight announced plans to create 127 Hours in November 2009. Filming began in March 2010 in Utah. Boyle intended to shoot the first part of the film with no dialogue. By June 17, 2010, the film was in post-production. The amputation scene was the handiwork of makeup effects artist Tony Gardner and his team at Alterian, Inc., with the help of medical professionals. They strove to be medically accurate in every minute detail, as Danny Boyle shot the entire scene in one take (with multiple cameras) and every aspect of the scene needed to be functional as well as realistic. Release 127 Hours was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010, following its premiere at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival. The film was selected to close the 2010 London Film Festival on October 28, 2010. It was given a limited release in the United States on November 5, 2010. It was released in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2011 and in India on January 26, 2011. During the screenings at Telluride Film Festival, two people required medical attention. At the first screening, an audience member suffered from light-headedness and was taken out of the screening on a gurney. During a subsequent screening, another viewer suffered a panic attack. Similar reactions were reported at the Toronto International Film Festival and a special screening hosted by Pixar and Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 (2010). Reception 127 Hours met with critical acclaim, with much of the praise going to Franco's performance. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of 200 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 8.2 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' selected top critics, the film holds an overall approval rating of 91%, based on a sample of 32 reviews. The site's consensus is that "As gut-wrenching as it is inspirational, 127 Hours unites one of Danny Boyle's most beautifully exuberant directorial efforts with a terrific performance from James Franco." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 84% based on 38 reviews. Writing for DVD Talk, Casey Burchby concluded that "127 Hours will stay with you not necessarily as a story of survival, but as a story of a harrowing interior experience.""127 Hours : DVD Talk Reviews of the DVD Video". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved April 14, 2011. Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film "Four Stars" and said he believed Franco absolutely deserved an Oscar nomination for his flawless performance, as well as calling the film "one of the best of the decade." Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars and said, "127 Hours is like an exercise in conquering the unfilmable." James Franco was awarded Best Actor by New York Film Critics Online. Accolades 127 Hours was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. The film was nominated for eight British Academy Film Awards, including Outstanding British Film, Best Direction, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Film Music. The film got six nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for eight Broadcast Film Critics Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Song and Best Sound. Its main theme song "If I Rise" won the Critics Choice award for Best Song. Soundtrack References External links * * * * * * Category:127 Hours Category:2010 films Category:2010s adventure films Category:2010s drama films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Danny Boyle Category:Adventure drama films Category:Biographical films Category:Docudramas Category:Films based on biographies Category:Films involving amputees Category:Films set in Utah Category:Films shot digitally Category:Films shot in Utah Category:Independent films Category:HandMade Films Category:Pathé films Category:Film4 Productions films Category:Fox Searchlight films ar:127 ساعة ca:127 Hours da:127 Hours de:127 Hours el:127 Ώρες es:127 horas fa:۱۲۷ ساعت fr:127 heures ko:127 시간 is:127 klukkustundir it:127 ore he:127 שעות ka:127 საათი hu:127 óra ml:127 അവേർസ് ms:127 Hours nl:127 Hours ja:127時間 no:127 timer pl:127 godzin pt:127 Horas ru:127 часов sr:127 сати fi:127 tuntia sv:127 timmar th:127 ชั่วโมง tr:127 Saat uk:127 годин zh:127小时